Why Kimi Raikkonen was ‘very happy’ when he discovered Ferrari were cancelling his contract early

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Kimi Raikkonen is the last Ferrari driver to have won a world championship after snatching the title from Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

The Finn was one of F1’s top rising talents in the early 2000s. He made his debut with Sauber in 2001 before moving to McLaren a year later.

Raikkonen became a fierce title contender with the Woking-based outfit, missing out on the title in 2003 to Michael Schumacher. He challenged against in 2005 and despite some brilliant racecraft – including one of greatest overtakes in F1 history in Japan – Raikkonen lost out to Fernando Alonso.

After a dismal 2006 campaign with underperforming machinery, the Finn left McLaren and replaced Schumacher at Ferrari in 2007. It looked like Hamilton would win the title in his rookie season, but Raikkonen staged one of the greatest comebacks to win his only championship by one point.

The 45-year-old failed to defend his crown in 2008 as Hamilton edged his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa to the title. Raikkonen continued with the Maranello outfit in 2009 but his sudden exit at the end of the season.

Kimi Raikkonen had ‘zero interest’ in F1 at the end of 2009 after Ferrari exit

Raikkonen had signed a three-year deal with Ferrari in 2007 and was contracted to race in 2010. But the Finn decided to leave the team and was replaced by Alonso.

The 2009 season saw a radical new set of regulations and Ferrari started on the backfoot while the likes of Brawn and Red Bull took advantage. Despite a resurgence in form in the second half of the season, Raikkonen finished sixth in the standings.

When the Finn announced his departure from Ferrari, he was linked with many other teams on the grid, including a return to McLaren, Mercedes and Toyota – before they withdrew from the sport.

But nothing ever materialised as the 45-year-old left the sport entirely, and speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast in 2019, he recalled how he was ‘very happy’ to leave as he had ‘zero interest’ in the sport.

READ MORE: Kimi Raikkonen once named Michael Schumacher arch-rival as best F1 teammate

Asked whether he missed racing after leaving Ferrari, he said: “Not at the beginning. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“I was very happy to go. I’m sure I could have signed [a] contract, but it made no sense to me and I had absolutely zero interest to be here.

“I was happy to go. I was very happy to go, with all the politics and nonsense and everything. Obviously I had a contract and they paid me out of it.

“I could have signed another contract on a different teams but I had no interest. I was very happy to go.”

Lewis Hamilton was left baffled when Kimi Raikkonen left Ferrari again in 2018

After leaving Ferrari in 2009, Raikkonen took part in the World Rally Championship before returning to F1 in 2012 with Lotus Renault.

The Finn was hugely impressive in his comeback, grabbing two wins and 15 podiums in his two seasons with the Enstone-based team. Raikkonen finished third in the championship on his return in 2012.

After Massa left for Williams in 2014, the 2007 champion returned to Ferrari and spent five seasons with the team. While Mercedes completely dominated this era, Raikkonen grabbed regular podiums and one win at the 2018 United States Grand Prix – his last win in F1.

After that season, the Finn opted to leave Ferrari and returned to Sauber – then Alfa Romeo. Hamilton felt Ferrari made a mistake letting Raikkonen leave, citing him as one os ‘favourite drivers’.

Raikkonen spent three seasons with the Swiss team before retiring in 2021. As the 2025 season approaches, Hamilton is looking to end the 18-year winless run and become champion with Ferrari.